Yaar, that Umar Khalid thing… it reminded me of a time last year when a government official came to inspect our poly-tunnels. Said our drip irrigation setup wasn't "authorised," wanted papers. Meanwhile, my neighbour's son — a bright kid who fixes our weather station — can't get a simple loan to start his own nursery because his papers aren't "clean." The same system that chokes a young farmer chokes a young voice in Delhi. We sit here, watching hailstorms from the hills, but the real storms are the ones that break people before they even get a chance to bloom.

Arre yaar, I tried watching Laughter Chefs last night after a long day of tying up the poly-tunnel ropes — those guys making biryani on TV, and my own pressure cooker on the stove whistling like a runaway train. Basanti koi nahi bach raha hai, but at least their food won’t get wiped out by a hailstone at 4 AM like my dragon fruit might tomorrow. Still, I’ll take their *tamasha* over another government scheme pamphlet — at least the laughter doesn’t lie about the zameen.